Once you became a DVC member, (how) did your vacations change?

[minnierealtor]

DVC has made vacations a bit more flexible. We are not vacation planners except for spring break every year. Sometimes we plan vacations only about 6-8 weeks in advance if we find a deal with airfare. We have made several short notice trips to WDW on a whim and since we buy annual passes every year the only thing we have to worry about is food when we get there. We stopped doing commando because we were exhasted when we arrived back home. I enjoy the parks but we don't spend every waking moment in them because we love to just hang at the resort. Since we are not big planners we stay at SSR which is very relaxing and easy to just stroll around, walk to DTD and play golf without ever getting on a bus or boat. Also, we factor in HH once a year (spring break) for a truely relaxing experience. In my opinion DVC is the best vacation "investment" we have ever made.

 

[edk35]

I love this thread. We haver s l o w e d down. It is sooooooooo nice to have all the space of a 2br with a family of 5. We bought in Jan. 07 and we noticed right away on our first DVC trip Aug. 07 how our vacations changed. We love the DVC resorts and love spending time at them too. It is nice having a washer and dryer, the kitchen, the two bathroms and my kids would say 3 TV'S. I am so DVC satisfied that we added on this past Friday. So now we have two homes. We don't cook too much in the villa but we do use the kitchen for snacks, a light breakfast and the fridge gets used a lot. It does make us want to take more trips and stay longer too. I mean.....after a week at a regular Disney resort.....we were almost ready to leave with 5 people in a deluxe....that gets old fast. Because there is no where to really hang out in one.....we would get up at zero dark thirty to hit the parks at rope drop and stay til closing. We were exhausted and cranky by vacation end. So....now we slow down and smell the roses. Our kids even love our slower pace.

 

[moredisneyplease]

I agree with lots of people here........

-no longer commando style because i know we'll be back and SOON
-definately better lodging! I had stayed at POR, Cont, Ft Wilerness cabin, all star music, etc Not its BWV, SSR, OKW, AKL!!! Wooohoo
-there more frequently: 2001- 2005 5 trips, 2006-2008 6 trips w/ at least 2 for next year

These are the main things that have changed for me!

 

[mmcguire]

We just took our first WDW trip as DVC owners, and although we didn't stay at a DVC resort this time (bought too close to our trip), we still could tell a difference in how we vacationed.

Instead of going "commando", we slept until 10:30 one morning, stayed at the resort until noon one day and did laundry, and were in bed by 10 a couple of nights.

We spent one afternoon at the pool & napping , and instead of going to to MK our last morning like we originally planned, we went to the pool. We also did DDP for the first time, and were able to enjoy our meals leisurely without feeling rushed.

We didn't stress if something broke down and we purposefully skipped some things to see with fresh eyes on our next visit.

I don't know if it was knowing we'll be back soon, or having APs, or both, but whatever it is, I LOVE it!

 

[lingber]

mmcguire- Thank you so much for sharing your blog! Becoming DVC members was quite a journey!

 

[goofypooh]

I agree with what everyone else has said. We have only been DVC members for 1 year now, but have already made 2 trips, one more trip is booked, and we already know when we want to go again after that! It is much more relaxed. We just don't feel like we have to do everything because we know we will be back. We also spend more time at the resort enjoying the pool & other activities that are going on there. (DH & I did a no parks trip recently) Also....I don't feel quite as depressed when our vacation ends because we know for sure there will be another one soon!

 

[edk35]

I agree with what everyone else has said. We have only been DVC members for 1 year now, but have already made 2 trips, one more trip is booked, and we already know when we want to go again after that! It is much more relaxed. We just don't feel like we have to do everything because we know we will be back. We also spend more time at the resort enjoying the pool & other activities that are going on there. (DH & I did a no parks trip recently) Also....I don't feel quite as depressed when our vacation ends because we know for sure there will be another one soon!

You know what I feel the same....I don't get near as sad about leaving. Sure it is always sad to leave THE WORLD...but knowing another trip is coming up in a few months or even a year makes it easier to leave. It feels less painful.

I don't know there is something about being a DVC member that makes everything just right with the world. It is actually a FEELING....I can't describle it really. I just feel apart of something BIGGER.

 

[nikkistevej]

We don't do commando anymore, we will probably go once a year(hopefully twice next year- thanks to our add on), for a longer time and "stop and smell the roses" at the parks- so many things we still haven't seen or done. We definantely relax more.

 

[DeeCee735]

Don't stay on Saturday nights - most of the time.
We go more often - alot more often
Less running in the parks and more enjoying the "quieter" or off the beaten path activities (rent the sprit boats, jellyrolls , fine dining, etc.)

 

[wildernessDad]

We go more often. It's actually hard to keep the pace reasonable.

Before DVC: I would take off a half day here, a half day there, not really any kind of vacation.

After DVC: Scheduled vacations with multiple days off per vacation. A much better situation.

We're transitioning away from the commando style of vacationing, but I still think we have a way to go. I'd like to plan some down time during our vacation where we do things like hang out and go to DTD instead of hitting a park. We'll make a light hitting.

 

[MILLZ]

Tons More Relaxing

 

[Tinkerbell 99 Mom]

Much, Much more relaxing... We really enjoy all of the other resorts now. We visited last in June and we spend a couple of days just visiting the other DVC properties that we had not stayed at. We really enjoy the pool hoping.

Wendy

 

[jpolak]

We go away a lot more often, and get to stay in beautiful resorts we would have never paid cash to stay in.

 

[Sheribo]

We drive to Florida twice a year now. One week in a studio to visit the parks and one week in a one bedroom to just relax and get away from the snow.

We love to go somewhere warm over March break and our home resort is perfect.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Much more relaxed--much less time fighting crowds in the parks. And with a washer and dryer in the room, we pack a lot fewer clothes than we used to--a whole luggage bag less, in fact.

 

[jimmytammy]

We go more times and we slowed down

 

[drummer1616]

Much more relaxed in our vacations. We actually look forward to coming back to the room and stretching out, watching TV, napping, etc. We couldn't do this in a regular room. We also spend more time doing things outside of the parks. We seem to have more variety and enjoyment than before. (Oh and I agree with previous poster: Now we stay 10-12 days instead of 5-7).

You hit the nail on the head,nothing like that laid back feeling,and WE TOO cant wait to get back to our resort.

What I like the best is instead of our strict daily lists of past,we now take each day as it comes.1/2 the family may go one direction and the other half go somewhere else.

I have actually been laying on the couch during our afternoon ``nap``time only to board a bus and go 1 thing and be back before anyone awoke.NOW THATS HEAVEN

 

[WolfpackFan]

Vacations are much more relaxing. We still go to the parks but go later, leave earlier and spend less time in them. I like nothing better than just relaxing around the resort. The last couple of weeks have been rather hectic for DW and myself and I told her, I'd like nothing better than get in car, drive down to WDW, check into a 1BR at OKW (one with a nice golf course view) and just relax for a week.

 

[pixie08]

1.We go more often. Min 2 times a year.
2. We relax a lot more and take things at a leidurely pace.
3. We are able to take our families with us (parents, siblings etc) which is really fun for us since it usually just the 2 of us.
4. Once the initial mortgage is paid off we feel the trips are more manageable cost wise. We do not have a large chunk of hotel to pay, we have an ap (DVC discount) we use the DDE for discount on dining and we usually eat breakfast in our room and keep snacks like drinks, water, chips and fruit which is cheaper than buying in the parks or resorts.

 

[Tarheel Tink]

The more you get to go to WDW, the less the need to be a park "commando" and spend every waking minute on rides. Our trips are definitely more relaxing as DVC members.

Ditto! Unless we have newbie guests who want to "see it all" we meander as we wish; getting more relaxed with every trip. Once we actually slept in!